Syracuse man acquitted of physically abusing his infant son

Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man accused of assaulting his 2-month-old son was acquitted Monday after a County Court jury heard conflicting medical testimony about how the child was injured and left with permanent brain damage.

Mark McKenzie Jr., 22, of Frisbie Court, was found "not guilty" of first-degree assault, reckless assault of a child and endangering the welfare of a child. He'd been accused of injuring his infant son while alone babysitting the child back in February 2011.

But defense lawyer Charles Keller said the prosecution contended the child had been violently punched in the eye after initially contending the baby was the victim of shaken-baby syndrome.

McKenzie confessed to police that he had shaken the baby, but Keller contended that was a false confession that had been coerced from the defendant and did not even match the medical evidence about the child.

A medical expert for the prosecution contended the child suffered a blow to the face and may also have been shaken, Keller said. But a pediatric neurologist from a hospital in Washington, D.C., testified for the defense that the child had a pre-existing medical condition that resulted in a stroke that produced the bleeding in the brain that was found when the child was hospitalized, the defense lawyer said.

According to Keller, the child was diagnosed with constipation and sent home after initially being brought to the hospital. When the baby's condition worsened over the next two days, the child was brought back and doctors discovered the bleeding in the brain, the lawyer said.

Assistant District Attorney Cindi Newtown said she stood behind the allegations that McKenzie recklessly assaulted the baby as charged. The baby has suffered permanent brain damage, she said.

McKenzie could have faced up to 25 years in state prison if convicted of the most serious first-degree assault charge.

According to Keller, McKenzie spent about a year in jail after being arrested in February 2011. He was released from custody earlier this year when the trial was delayed at the prosecution's request, the lawyer said.